Love, Emma
by barelyginger
Summary: Emma and Killian have been inseparable since they were children. They know deep down they are meant to be, but they just can't seem to get together... Adapted from the film Love, Rosie
1. Chapter 1

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters, nor do I own the story that this fic is based off of. I have taken the characters of Once Upon a Time and put them into the situations of the movie Love, Rosie. I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING BUT THE WORDS. Even some of the dialogue is taken from the film.**_

* * *

 **Ch. 1**

So this was it then. This was what every moment in her entire life had led up to. Every almost kiss, every subtle hint. She had always dreamt of this best man speech, though she never imagined that _she_ would be the one delivering it at _his_ wedding. But why wouldn't she…she was his best friend. She had let him slip through her fingers yet again, and this time it was by such a slim margin that she was feeling true hatred for herself at that moment.

But let's go back to the beginning; back to where everything started and back to the events that brought about the immensely fucked up and complicated lives of Emma Swan and Killian Jones.

As it is fairly natural for girls and boys to make play and be friends at the young and tender age of five, nothing ever seemed astray or out of place. They passed notes in class. Their favorite game was spinning a globe and stopping it with a single finger. The places they planned to travel spanned from the Americas to Antarctica.

When they were alone, Killian would share his dreams, which tended to be bizarre and out of the ordinary.

"Emma," he would say to her, "you know those big boats? Like…pirate ships."

"Yeah."

"I dreamed I was the mast. That part with the sail on it. And it felt like I was flying."

Then he would hold out his hand and her fingers would lace through his.

With the distraction of his father's untimely death, Killian's mother was too busy to worry herself with the quaint friendships of his son and the young girl from across the way. Emma, as an orphan, had no one in her life who even cared enough to notice how as they grew older, they did not separate, as most boys and girls would; in fact, they only grew closer.

They lived through the days of primary school together and into the years of secondary school, hardly ever leaving the other's side. Though the both of them had girlfriends and boyfriends who came and went, they always were saving themselves for each other. The tragic part was that neither one knew it.

When Killian had his first girlfriend in their sixth year, Emma teased him about how they would hold hands in the hallway, though she secretly was developing a crush on him, which she would admit to no one. When Emma received her first real kiss from a boy in their eighth year, Killian made faces and gagging noises when she told him about it, but he had always hoped in the back of his mind that he would be her first real kiss.

But that just wasn't realistic.

Through secondary school, Killian prospered. He lived with his uncle. His mother had died shortly after the death of his father out of grief, and he was determined to live a life where he would thrive and know about how to heal people. There were many great medical programs in England, but his heart was set on Harvard. Emma on the other hand grown fond of the business of hotels. Her foster parents changed every few years, but they were all in the same vicinity of the city. None of them ever felt like home to her. So she found her own special place, an abandoned hotel on the outskirts of the city, a home of her own, where she could be free, away from the people whom she was forced to call her family. In it, she pretended to be a hostess or a manager or a maid. She dreamed to own her very own hotel, much like that one, one day.

But here, many years later, she stood, about to give a speech.

"I can truly say," she began with a voice that was trying not to sound too shaky, "that this is one of the happiest days of my life."

He looked at her with a smile, but little did he know that that was just another addition to the lie that she had been telling herself since they were teenagers; the lie that she didn't really love him.

* * *

It was their final year. Year thirteen, where everything ended and they could begin to plan their future. But most importantly, it was the year that Emma Swan turned eighteen.

She was accustomed to nights like this: partying and dancing and yelling at the top of her lungs once she'd had a couple drinks, though this time it was legal. The lights in the club were getting blurrier as she took shot after shot, dancing alongside Killian after each one.

The music blared as Emma bounced and screamed with excitement and enthusiasm, her once faint buzz having turned into full-fledged drunkenness.

"Are you having fun?" Killian yelled over the music. Even though she was centimetres away from his face, the words did not process. "You're pissed right now, aren't you?" He laughed.

Dragging her drunk figure over to the bar area, she continued to dance. It was getting hotter and stuffier and Emma was getting closer and closer to him. She was standing on a stool and Killian supported her weight so she wouldn't fall over.

Breath. Hot breath was the next thing he felt. She was closer to his face than she had ever been and he was not about to push her away.

Deep breath. Move in closer. Deep breath. Move in closer.

Noses brush and suddenly she is kissing him and it is tender and soft and he somehow had always known that this is what it would be like to kiss her: pure bliss.

 _Slip._

She was on the floor, passed out. The stool was toppled over on its side. Her night of partying was over.

* * *

" _Oh hi Mrs. Nolan…I just want you to know that it is entirely my fault."_

" _Mhm how I would love to believe you but I happen to know how Emma is. You know if this is how you continue to carry on I'm not too sure how successful you'll be as a doctor."_

Emma woke to the sounds of her most recent foster mother chatting it up with a voice she knew only too well to be that of Killian Jones. She was hungover and the light that was not streaming through her windows was blinding. The pain from the mats in her hair pulling at her scalp was nothing compared to the queasy feeling in her stomach.

Pulling the comforter around herself and hobbling out of her bedroom, she managed to stumble down onto the first landing of the stairs, where Killian and Mary Margaret Nolan, her foster mother (whom she had actually grown quite fond of in the past year living with her and her husband David), came into view. Killian was leaning against the bannister, somehow looking more put together than she did, though she didn't know how, given that she was fairly certain he had drunk as much as she had the previous night.

"Why is everybody shouting?" Emma mumbled, her eyes squinting to adjust to the sun.

"You go fix her," Mary Margaret told Killian, hitting him jokingly with the hand towel she held.

With a smirk, Killian turned and led Emma back up the stairs to her bedroom, where she didn't hesitate for a moment to fall right back into her bed.

"I am so utterly embarrassed about last night."

"No no, you really don't have to be," Killian said eagerly.

"I behaved so badly!"

Killian's smirked. "Yeah, but…bad can be good too."

Emma turned her head, still lying on her pillow, to face him. How could he say any of last night was good? All she could remember was passing out and then waking up in the hospital getting her stomach pumped.

"Good? It was awful. Ugh I feel sick even thinking about it."

Killian's smirk quickly turned to a frown, remembering their kiss. He thought that had been the start of something. Had he misinterpreted something? Had it been nothing more than the silly drunken actions of his best friend?

"Awful? Um…about which part exactly?" he inquired.

"All of it." She sat up quickly, making herself lightheaded and letting out a groan, before looking at him in the eyes and saying very sincerely, "It never happened, Killian, okay? You can't tell anyone."

Killian coughed. She really was embarrassed that she had kissed him. "Right."

There was an awkward silence, though it was quickly broken by Emma's brat of a younger brother, Nick, barging into her room and chanting, "Emma had her stomach pumped! Emma had her stomach pumped!"

With the screaming of a curse word or two and the throwing of a pillow, he left them in peace yet again.

"How did we get home from the hospital?" asked Emma.

"Uh…my uncle picked us up. They needed a parent's name and I couldn't exactly give them the name of your foster parents. Plus your foster mum thinks it's my fault anyway and I'm a "terrible influence" and blah blah blah –"

"Oh, well, you are," Emma teased.

"So now," Killian continued, "I have to spend two hours in the library every day for a fortnight."

"Nightmare," she quipped sarcastically.

"Well, it could be worse…"

Emma looked at him with a face of curiosity.

"Ruby Lucas has just got a part time job there," he hinted suggestively.

Pause.

"Yeah right."

"What?" Killian asked with a slightly offended tone.

"Ruby Lucas? Forget it. Even I want to sleep with her."

It was true. Any person with half a brain in their entire school was at least partially in love with Ruby Lucas. Her beauty outweighed the majority of the people in England and the boys fawning over her in their year were through the roof. If you lusted after Ruby Lucas, you were probably out of her league.

"For your information," Killian began to say, as if he was divulging something very sensitive and important, "she has been giving me the eye."

"Hmm. She's probably wondering why you haven't squeezed that zit on your forehead."

"Oh bugger off," he laughed.

"I could do it for you. Come here!"

"No! Get off me!"

Emma squealed as Killian tackled her back down onto her bed. It was just like they were kids again. No drama, no feelings. Just two best friends giving their all to the other.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ch. 2**

Lives went on. Students made plans for an evening at the beach. There wasn't much hesitation from Emma, as a typical weekend evening for she and Killian consisted of lame movies and lots and lots of popcorn.

Laughing and teasing each other playfully, Killian and Emma stumbled down to the ocean's shore, where they could see boys and girls splashing in the water or making out. Within the crowd of teenagers there was Neal, the most popular lad in their year. Most people thought he was quite easy on the eyes, but Killian could never tell what any of the girls saw in him. He saw him for what he really was: a douchebag.

Emma and Killian ran round the beach until the sun started to set, chasing each other like young siblings. It was Emma's favorite feeling when she was hoisted onto Killian's back and he carried her around.

Killian noticed after a while that Neal had pulled Emma to the side and was intently talking to her. What could possibly be so important that he couldn't say it in front of all his asshole friends?

"Just look at Neal right now," Killian instructed Emma later as they sat on a blanket next to each other. Neal was sitting amidst a crowd of girls and other seemingly attractive young men. "What a bimbo."

Emma looked nonchalantly away.

"He's invited me to the school dance."

Killian tried not to look affected. He merely scoffed and averted his eyes from looking directly at her.

"Er…and what did you say?"

"No, obviously!" she replied with a grin and a playful nudge. "I'm going with you."

Killian's spirit lightened immensely at this response. He hadn't expected her to break their pact about going to the dance together, but reassurance from her was always greatly appreciated.

"Hey, Killian," said a female voice.

Looking up, Killian saw none other than Ruby Lucas standing above him in a very short skirt…but he wasn't looking at that of course.

"I missed you in the library today," she teased, the hemline of her skirt occasionally blowing upward by force of the wind.

Killian looked up at her, "Yeah…uh, I…I had…nothing…I was a bit –"

Emma glanced toward him incredulously.

"Don't be a stranger," Ruby concluded as she sauntered back to her friends on the blanket across from them.

"Pathetic," Emma muttered.

"She is mine for the taking!" bragged Killian.

Emma let out a laugh. "You're lucky she didn't trip over your tongue dragging halfway across the ground."

"Whoa! Okay. Alright," he retorted, "give me some tips, then, if you're so clever. How do I go about seducing a woman who is apparently out of my league?"

She gaped at him momentarily.

"Is that a serious question?"

"Yeah! Absolutely."

"Hm. Well," Emma began jokingly, "you're at a bit of a disadvantage being a, you know," she dropped her voice to a whisper, "virgin."

Killian rolled his eyes as he turned bright red.

"You know what, forget it."

"No, no, no," persuaded Emma, "we can work with that! Now first, you have to be cool. Ignore her. Act like you could take it or leave it, right?"

Killian raised his eyebrows and nodded, indicating he understood.

She continued, "Second, you have to make her feel like you've seen something in her no one else has. Like her soul."

"While also ignoring her?" he interjected.

"Yes," she said plainly.

"Okay. And what happened to…the sex?" he asked coyly with his usual smirk.

"This is about the sex!" she reassured with a laugh.

"God! You are so fucked up," he told her.

She widened her eyes and gave a thin-lipped smile. "You have no idea."

* * *

They had been looking over at Ruby again, seeing her exchange words with her friends, looking totally flawless the whole time, even though the wind was blowing even harder than earlier, when Killian spoke again.

"She wants me to take her to the dance."

Emma's head whipped around to look back at him. She wasn't bothered by this was she?

"Really?" she wondered.

"Yeah, imagine," scoffed Killian.

There was a pause. Emma could do one of two things here.

She could tell him not to take her; she could tell him what she really thought, which was that he was so much better than Ruby was and that she, Emma, had truly been looking forward to attending the dance with him, even if it was only as friends.

Or she could lie because at this point, he seemed to want Ruby more than her.

She chose the latter.

"Take her, if it means that much to you."

Killian looked surprised. "Come on. You'd have no one to go with," he weakly argued.

"Er, I got asked by the fittest guy in our year, Killian. I think I'm fine," Emma shot back.

"What, so actually this is quite convenient for you?" he asked amusedly.

"Yeah."

Killian looked at her then back at Ruby.

 _Please don't ask her. Please don't ask her._

"Alright. Well…yeah I'll go ask her then!"

Emma swallowed her pride. "Go for it."

Killian stood up and made his way over to Ruby's blanket. Emma watched as Ruby's eyes lit up and she said yes to Killian' offer, kissing him on the cheek before tightly embracing him, while Emma stayed alone in the sand.

* * *

Several more weeks passed. Ruby and Killian had been hanging out more and more, making this the first real girlfriend Killian had ever had. Emma tried not to be bothered by it, but her weekends were being spent alone more than with him nowadays. She wanted to say something, but when she would go through the words in her head they always sounded so selfish. How could she just ask him to stop spending time with his girlfriend without sounding jealous? She couldn't, so she didn't.

The week of the dance, Emma and Killian sat in their computer class. Suddenly a message popped up on Emma's screen.

 _ **Killian**_

 _I've got news._

News, did he?

 _ **Emma**_

 _Me too. I need to concentrate so I can pass my exams and get a life._

She pressed send and looked across the room to where he was sitting, typing again, with a smug look on his face. She received another message.

 _ **Killian**_

 _Virgin boy is no longer._

Emma's face dropped. Dreading the answer she already knew at the back of her mind, she typed.

 _ **Emma**_

 _Who's the unlucky girl?_

Send.

"Not Ruby. Not Ruby. Not Ruby," she muttered to herself, anticipating his answer.

 _ **Killian**_

 _RUBY_

"Fuck!" she exclaimed audibly. The whole class looked up, Killian included.

"Right," their instructor said, "Emma Swan get yourself down to the headmaster's office."  
Emma stood up from her chair, but Killian was quick to try and come to her rescue.

"No, no, no Mr. Simpson. I had something I needed to tell her," he explained.

"So I see, Killian," Mr. Simpson said, approaching his computer. "Congratulations."

With the push of a button, Killian and Emma's conversation was broadcasted on the board in front of the whole class. People began to snicker and applaud as Killian put his face in his hands, completely embarrassed.

Emma made her way out of the classroom and to the headmaster's office with Killian in tow due to his "profane messages". In any other situation, Emma may have felt bad for him, but today, after what he had just told her, she figured this was nothing more than karma. She knew that she didn't have any sort of right to Killian, but she always figured that she was the most important woman in his life. Of course, this was a bit of a double standard. She had slept with plenty of guys in the past four years and Killian had never complained once. She'd never had any emotional attachment to her previous hookups because that was all they were: hookups. They were one-night stands or boyfriends to pass the time, just knowing that in the long run, Killian would be there for her.

It had been different for Killian. He had never hooked up with anyone, and she supposed that's what had kept her going to so long; that's why she always had hope. She thought that he was saving himself for her. She truly believed that one day they would both come to their senses and something magical would happen.

She suddenly didn't believe in the sparks of a new romance, because it would never happen. Nothing was going to be blossoming between them. And she shouldn't feel sad over it, because it just simply wasn't meant to be. She could see that now.

* * *

 _ **Sorry for the major downer ending to a chapter guys. I thought about making it longer but I figured that was a good conclusion to this particular section. Hoping to update with a new chapter every week or so, though around the holidays and into January that may be tough with my schedule. But I will really try!**_

 _ **I thrive off of reviews so keep em coming! Thanks for reading!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**I do not own any of these characters, nor do I own the dialogue or the plot. This is the story from the film Love, Rosie and I have merely adapted it for Emma Swan and Killian Jones from Once Upon a Time. I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING BUT THE WORDS.**_

* * *

The days were becoming longer as they made their way into spring. The flowers were in bloom and the sun was not setting until well past seven at night. The dance was fast approaching, as was Killian and Emma's final year of school before taking on the incredible (or incredibly scary) journey of university. Though they tried to keep their minds in the present as much as possible, the prospect of starting new lives somewhere else was intoxicating, even if fear of the unknown was also taking over every part of their brains as well.

To add to the mixed emotions both of them were facing, they continued to pretend as if there was nothing between them and that there never would be. Emma had taken to dating Neal, and she figured that their first time would be the night of the dance. He had reserved a room and everything. Emma hadn't told this to Killian, of course. They had not been speaking much since the incident in class. Emma couldn't decide if it was her embarrassment from subtly (and in a quite vulgar manner) implying that she had feelings for Killian or if it was the fact that he had been spending most of his time with Ruby and she just didn't want to butt in. The latter was far easier to convince herself of.

Emma's dresses were sprawled across her room and her hair was piled high with curlers, but she answered the door anyway when someone knocked. She knew who it was because that was the way he always knocked.

Killian stood in the doorway with a dorky smile on his face and a tuxedo that wasn't quite put on entirely correctly. His hair was in a million different directions, though there was nothing new there, and his bowtie was drooped around the collar of his shirt, not yet tied.

"I know we're not officially talking, but I need help with my tie," he told her, rocking back and forth on his heels as he only did when he was nervous.

Emma let him in, smiling, because there was no sort of embarrassing situation that would ever get in the way of their friendship. They stumbled upstairs to her bedroom. Emma went into her closet to finish getting dressed while Killian headed straight to the mirror to get a good look at himself, trying – and failing – to tie the fabric that lay across his neck.

"You know, for a moment there I thought you might be in love with me or something," he said, and she knew he was referring to the events at school a few weeks ago.

"I mean, not that I could blame you if you were. I am quite hard to resist."

Ah. There was the Killian she knew.

She knew he had been joking, but deep down she thought there might be some truth to what he was implying.

But she wasn't about to admit that to him.

"Killian, please, you will forever be the boy who wiped bogeys on my favorite party dress, okay? Don't flatter yourself."

Peeking out from the closet door for a brief moment, she thought she had caught a sideways glance from him in the mirror, almost a look of disappointment, but she knew it had to all have been in her head.

"Good," he finally replied, "I know boy-girl friendships can be quite complicated sometimes –"

 _You got that one, mate._

" – but you know I'm always here if you need to talk."

Emma took one last look in her full-length mirror in her closet before stepping out from behind the door.

"What do you think?" she asked, "Boobs au natural or pushed up? In or out?

She grabbed her breasts and pushed them in then back out again, mimicking her words. Killian was appraising her and stumbling over his words, as he always did at first in the face of any sort of lady parts.

"Well…. er…I mean it…it depends. Is it for…dancing or is it…um – "

She knew what he was implying. Emma stepped in close to him, close enough that she could smell that he had brushed his teeth before he had come, and remembering that he had probably done this because he would be kissing Ruby later.

She reached down and finished tying his bowtie, which he had given up on. Pulling it tight and smoothing it over, she came to rest her hands on his chest.

"Hmm. Who knows?"

* * *

The car ride to the hotel where the dance was taking place felt just like it had always felt between them: completely natural. Killian drove while Emma sat in the passenger seat. They were laughing about how the both of them had wound up with the two most popular kids in their whole year as their dates.

"So where is this tool meant to be meeting you?" Killian asked as they pulled into the parking lot.

"You're so rude!" Emma laughed, swatting him on the arm

Killian laughed and swung into a parking space, seeing Neal walking up to their car, poised and ready to take his lady by the arm.

"Hey, gorgeous," he greeted, opening the door and swooping her up.

"See you!" Emma yelled back to Killian as Neal led her into the hotel.

When they were out of sight, Killian laughed to himself.

"Wanker," he chuckled.

After waiting in the parking lot for another fifteen minutes before Ruby arrived, they were finally inside, dancing to the music the DJ was playing. Ruby was dancing up on him and she was wearing a dress that was quite short and probably would not be approved by the headmaster of their school, but he wasn't thinking about the headmaster at all. He had the hottest girl in their entire school grinding her ass on him.

The music and the atmosphere were reminding Killian of the night of Emma's eighteenth birthday. He took his focus off Ruby and her revealing dress to look around. Emma was across the room, dancing with Neal and looking to be having a great time, though he knew deep down that she wasn't having nearly as much fun as when they had been dancing together…and kissing.

Killian shook the thought quickly out of his mind. Emma had made it abundantly clear to him the morning after the incident that it was a mistake and she was embarrassed and that she didn't want anyone to know.

Before he could look back to his date, and his girlfriend, Emma caught his eye, still dancing on Neal.

The dancing continued and it began to seem like some sort of buildup scene from an erotica movie: the flashing lights, the dancing, the eyes meeting each other across the room.

Killian didn't know if Emma was thinking the same thing he was: that he couldn't help but wish it was her dancing with him instead of Ruby, but this thought was quickly broken when Ruby grabbed Killian by the face and began snogging him as hard as she possibly could. How could he complain? She was hot. She was a good kisser _and_ a good fucker. As an eighteen-year-old boy, it was all he could ask for.

* * *

Emma and Neal had abandoned the dance and were making their way up to the room that Neal had booked for them earlier that week. Honestly, Emma wasn't sure whose bright idea it was to have a school dance at a hotel, because nearly every single horny couple there was taking advantage of its rooms, including the two of them.

They hurried into their room, hanging the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the handle of the door, and began heavily making out. They had hardly made it onto the bed when Neal's hands started to roam all over her body, feeling strangely clammy and cold. He took her dress off and ripped off his tuxedo shirt. His jacket had already come off in a rush to get into the room, and Emma was fairly certain that the idiot had left it in the middle of the hallway.

Neal removed his trousers and his pants, and honestly, Emma could say that she was completely underwhelmed by what she saw.

He sat on the side of the bed, grabbing a condom and removing it from the package. Emma looked over his shoulder and watched as he struggled to put it on.

 _Are you fucking serious?_

"Fuck!" Neal shouted in pain, snapping the edge of the condom on his tip.

Good Lord. "Just…er," she tried to guide him without screaming at him and just putting it on herself. It wasn't large it shouldn't be THAT hard to put it on.

"You have done this before?" Emma asked timidly.

"Yeah. Haven't you?" He answered insincerely.

The awkwardness only grew stronger.

"It's like brushing my teeth," Emma replied. What the fuck kind of an answer was that? It made her sound like some sort of super slut who went around fucking different guys twenty times a week.

After several more curse words from Neal and lots of offers to help from Emma, as she was quickly losing her patience, Neal managed to roll the condom on.

"Okay, quick!" He said, mounting Emma at last.

"Here we go!"

He rocked back and forth, in and out of her, as she merely lay on her back with him on top of her, moaning and groaning. She felt no sense of pleasure at all, and in fact, he came within a matter of five seconds.

Yes. Five. Seconds.

He rolled off of her and onto his back, breathing heavily and pulling Emma into his arms.

"Oh! Wow," Emma said with wide eyes. _Is that it?_

"I know," he replied excitedly, still out of breath, kissing her quickly on her forehead.

There was a sense of awkwardness in the air, though Emma had a feeling that Neal was totally oblivious to it. He was grinning and rubbing her arm so she figured that he felt pretty confident in his sexual performance, though she wasn't sure why since it was the worst thing she had ever experienced. He hadn't even made her come. In fact, she hadn't even come close.

Rolling her eyes and reaching down below the sheets to remove the condom, she felt around for it but couldn't seem to find it.

"Where is it?" she asked plainly.

"What?"

"The thing."

Emma pulled the sheets up and took a look around. It wasn't there.

"I don't know."

Emma began to panic. Where the fuck was the thing?

"Seriously, Neal, where is it?" she pried impatiently.

"You had it!"

"Why the fuck would I have it? You were the one wearing the goddamn thing! It can't have just disappeared!"

Wait. It wasn't on his penis. It wasn't under the sheets or on top of them.

"Oh, God. Oh shit!"

Emma turned onto her back and put her hands over her lower stomach. It was inside of her.

She forcefully threw the covers off of her and ran into the bathroom.

What the hell was she going to do? This was the most humiliating thing that had ever happened to her.

Looking around the bathroom, she saw a handheld mirror and grabbed it. She sat on the floor and opened her legs, trying to get a view of inside of her, though it was not as easy as she hoped it would be. She couldn't see anything.

"Emma? Have you found it?" Neal asked, opening the door. "Do you want me to have a look for you?"

"Really?" Emma asked, irritated.

"Yeah, go on all fours," he laughed, sticking his tongue out jokingly.

"Bugger off!" she yelled, throwing the mirror at him as he closed the door. She watched it break as it hit the wall, and all she could do at that moment was bury her head in her hands and wonder why the hell she had ever agreed to go to the dance with this complete asshole.

After sitting on the floor of the bathroom for another ten minutes and wondering what to do next, Emma remembered.

 _Killian._

He was still downstairs with Ruby, she assumed, as Killian had told Emma earlier that apparently Ruby felt she was 'too sophisticated' to do something as juvenile as have sex in a random hotel room.

Standing up off the floor, Emma ran over to where Neal was still sitting on the bed, going through his phone as if nothing unusual had happened. She grabbed his overcoat from the hallway floor, threw it over her shoulders, and made her way to the lift.

The phone rang twice before someone answered.

"Emma!" Killian's voice came from the other end. Never had she been so relieved to hear him.

"Killian! Thank God. Where are you?"

"I'm on my way out!" Killian was yelling over the noise of the music and the other dancing couples around him.

 _Ding!_ The doors to the lift opened and she rushed in, pressing the button that would take her to the hotel lobby. She had hoped she would be able to talk in private to Killian, but a man stood in the corner of the lift box, pretending she was not there.

 _Great._

"No, wait, you've got to help me, there's been an accident!" Emma said, quietly as she could into the speaker of her phone.

"Christ, what?!"

"No, no, no, no sorry that's not what I meant. Everything's fine."

 _Everything was most certainly NOT fine!_

"Jesus! You scared me!"

"I mean," Emma tried to explain, "there was an accident, um, with the thingy with Neal, you know?"

Killian laughed on the other end. "Well, that happens, Emma!"

"No, Killian! Something that I need to figure out right now! I need to get rid of it! It got lost and I can't find it and I don't know what to do!"

The man in the lift with her was giving her a look, and she retreated into the corner, trying to keep her voice down.

"You're not making any sense, Emma! Can we just talk about this later?"

"No, Killian, please!" she cried, praying that he wouldn't hang up on her.

"Okay, you need to be really clear and precise!"

Clear and precise, huh? Fine.

"Okay!" Emma paused for a moment before saying at full volume into her phone, "The condom came off inside my vagina and at present I am unable to locate it!"

 _Ding._ The doors to the lift swung open, announcing their arrival to the lobby. Killian stood directly outside them, seeing Emma and putting his phone down.

"That's…way more information that I needed."

* * *

 _ **This may be one of my absolute favorite chapters, just because I remember how much at laughed during this scene in the movie. It was also particularly fun to write. I am loving how this story is unfolding, not to mention how well the characters fit in with the plot. I would love getting feedback and hearing what you think about each chapter. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone! I hope to get chapter four posted a short time after the New Year. Love you all! Every favorite, follow, and review means the world to me!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story, nor do I own the plot. The characters belong to Once Upon a Time and the storyline is based off of the film Love, Rosie. I do not own the majority of the dialogue. The only things that are mine are the words.**_

* * *

For Emma, it wasn't even the humiliation of having a fucking condom shoved up her vagina, though that was certainly putting a damper on her mood. What was truly under her skin was that none of this ever would have happened if she had told Killian how she really felt about him asking Ruby to the dance. It all came down to her stupid decision, once again, and as she lay in the emergency room, waiting for her doctor to come and pry this piece of latex out of her, she knew that she could never tell Killian how she thought she might have felt about him.

Killian had been living with his uncle, whom he never saw, due to his lazy drunken ass, for the past five years. His brother was off fighting for the American military and he hadn't seen or heard from him since Killian was a young boy. Emma was always feeling sorry for herself. She had no real family, but her current foster family, The Nolan's, were good to her as any real family ever would be.

Without a car, Killian was stuck driving her around. Their life plans were always revolving around what Emma wanted to do. And tonight was the last straw. Killian was finally with someone who he really liked – not to mention that he had lost his virginity to her. His night had been cut short because of her mistake. He had driven her to the hospital, and though she knew they would both have a good laugh after it was all over, she couldn't help but feel the guilt pulling at her stomach. He deserved better than her.

Lying in the hospital, Emma laid her head back on the bed, when a male nurse pulled back the curtain.

"Hi. I'm Dick."

"Of course you are," Emma muttered.

He stepped closer to her and put his gloves on, even though the last thing she wanted was more latex to touching ANY of her lady parts.

"Is it, erm…front or back?" he asked with a cock of his eyebrow.

Emma's head shot up from the hospital bed and her eyes widened. "What do you think I am?"

"Sorry!" he replied, apologetically putting his hands up. "I wasn't suggesting you're a slag or anything."

He adjusted his gloves yet again and, stepping forward, he motioned for her to move her legs open, as she had a tight hold on them and looked as if she wouldn't let them come apart from each other for a long time. These puppies were inseparable.

"Isn't there a female nurse?"

He shrugged. "I'm afraid I'm all you got."

Great.

* * *

Killian had been waiting for around an hour in the lobby of the emergency room in the most uncomfortable chair he had ever sat in, though he was far too distracted to think of the badly built structure of a chair. If he had just been there to make sure she hadn't done anything to get into trouble…though what was he thinking? He couldn't exactly have been there while they were shagging. He also couldn't help but to feel this was his fault. The real problem was farther back.

They had been meant to go to the dance together. It was his stubbornness in the first place that had put them in the situation to go with other people. If he had just come right out and asked her to the dance like any normal man would have instead of them just assuming they would be going together, even further pushing the idea into Emma's mind that they were each other's default, he would have made sure that she didn't get tied up with that total wanker.

After a long wait, she finally emerged from behind the curtain, hands clasped in front of her as if she didn't want any eyes looking, taking small steps toward him. He helped her into his car and they drove home in complete silence, mostly because Killian wasn't sure if he should laugh or try to console her.

He pulled up to her house, the pregnant silence in the air continuing to fester, when she looked at him and burst into laughter.

"That was one of the most embarrassing moments of my entire pathetic existence!" she laughed, covering her face with her hands and leaning her head onto his shoulder.

They sat and giggled for another few minutes before it died down, and they were back to the silence that had haunted them on the drive home, though this time there was a different aura in the air. A peaceful one.

"You know what? Let's get out of here," Killian said quietly, turning in his seat to face her.

She gestured out the window, "Dino's should still be open – "

"I was thinking more Boston, Massachusetts," he interjected.

Emma broke into that sarcastic grin she always got when she joked around with him. "Oh, you think I should flee the country?"

"I'm serious! This place is a dead end, we've been saying it for years."

Emma's smile retreated. Killian had wanted to discuss this with her in more detail for the past few months but he never knew where to begin. After that night's incident, he figured it was a good a time as any.

"Liam got in touch with me…"

"Liam?! As in, your brother Liam? "

"Yeah that one…he has been writing me a fair amount, but he rang me the other day. He wants to check up and see what my plans on for university and, er…we were talking about how I might try for a scholarship at Harvard."

Emma didn't blink. "You are serious."

"It's one of the best medical schools in the world," he explained. "And Boston College happens to have a really great hotel management course…"

Her face twisted up into a grin that he could tell she was trying, and failing, to hid from him.

"That is what you want to do, isn't it?"

And he could tell by the look on her face that she was onboard.

* * *

"Boston?"

"Mary Margaret, I _know_ it's a long way away, but this is something I really want to do!"

"But it's just…so far. How will I ever be able to keep tabs on you? Who will wash your clothes? You'll never eat!"

"Yeah, I think they have food in America, Mary Margaret."

Emma had just told her foster parents about her and Killian's plan to venture off to the states together. So far, Mary Margaret had been rattling off excuses for her to stay and David, her foster dad, had stuck to leaning against the wall, arms crossed, not saying a word, and looking amusedly at his wife as she paced around the room.

"It's just a ridiculous plan. And you're so young!" she continued to argue.

"I'm eighteen, Mary Margaret! Not to mention the fact that I have only lived with you for a year! It's not like you're my real mother…"

"Okay, but I am your foster mother, Emma! I love you like you are my own and the only reason we didn't officially adopt you was because you were already a teenager when we took you in! We figured you would be living on your own soon, but since the first day, I have cared deeply for you."

Emma jumped out of her chair. "Well, there you go! You always knew I would be living on my own eventually. That time is now! Please, Mary Margaret, I beg of you."

Mary Margaret looked attentively at Emma, her eyebrows still furrowed with worry. Her head shot around to face her husband, who was still watching the scene unfold in the corner. "What do you think, David?"

Her foster father was a young, handsome man, but he was also filled to the brim with wisdom far beyond his years. Emma often went to him when she was feeling confused about a lesson at school, or a lesson about life, for he typically had answers for both. David was a caring man, and though this situation was far more amusing to him than it was to his wife, his advice was as useful as it always was.

"Do you know what my mother's favorite phrase was?"

Emma shook her head. How was she supposed to know since they never mentioned anyone else from their family?

"'Not for the likes of us.' When you started telling us about your plan, it was the first thing that popped into my head. I can hear her voice in the room, saying it."

David removed himself from the wall he was leaning against and walked toward Emma, grabbing her shoulders gently.

"I don't want that voice in your head, ever."

Emma sighed and smiled up at him. Mary Margaret had stopped her pacing and was now sitting on the couch, still looking concerned, but less so than before, like some sort of invisible weight was slowly being lifted from her shoulders.

"Thanks, David."

"You know you can call us Mum and Dad! God knows, you sure do treat us as if we are just that," David laughed, releasing his light grip on his shoulders and gesturing toward Mary Margaret.

"Yeah, but you guys have always seemed more like the cool aunt and uncle than my parents. It just feels weird to address you by anything but your first names," Emma explained.

The cuckoo clock on the wall tolled, announcing the start of a new hour. David walked over and took his place next to his wife on the sofa, plopping down next to her and swinging his arm around her. They snuggled in close and Emma was now reminded why she felt so comfortable with them. They were the closest things she had to family; she knew she could confide in them.

"I want my own hotel one day," she said, turning and speaking to them as if she was giving a formal speech. "Is it crazy to think like that?"

Her foster parents, or cool aunt and uncle, however you choose to view them, looked at each other before turning back to her.

"You're amazing, Emma," Mary Margaret spoke in a conventional tone for the first time in the past thirty minutes since they began the debate in regard to her plan. "There is nothing you can't do."

* * *

The last three months of school consisted mostly of the following: college applications, lots of booze, to help ease the stress of said college applications, and an excessive amount of planning for their move to Boston. Mary Margaret was still adjusting with the idea of Emma going to a "strange place" with a "strange boy" ( _Mary Margaret, I have literally known Killian since we were potty training." "I know! But since I've met him I just don't think he's the best choice for you to be dating!" "We. Aren't. Dating!")._

It was all so overwhelming that Emma had been getting minor bouts of sickness every couple of days. It would come in waves of nausea, followed by vomiting profusely, but she took some antacids and blamed it on stress. Life went on, and soon, the days were spent waiting on an answer from the colleges of their choice.

Emma had applied to Boston College's hotel management program and Killian was awaiting his response about Harvard's pre-med program, both anxious about being rejected, which would throw their entire plan for the future away.

One cool summer day after graduation, Emma was making her way to her front doorstep. When she drew nearer to the Nolan's house, she saw the mail dropped on their porch, and, rifling through it quickly, she saw a letter enclosed in an envelope that read _Boston College_ at the top. She tore it open eagerly, the voice inside her head screaming at her not to get her hopes up, that there were tons of applicants and she should go in without any expectations, but the moment she saw the words _"Congratulations"_ and _"pleased to offer you",_ all logical thoughts were driven from her mind.

Letter in hand, Emma ran across the street to Killian's uncle's house, the biggest smile she had had on her face since that day with Killian on the beach, ready to tell him the news that part of their grand scheme was completed. She had every bit of courage that he was going to get into Harvard, if not get some large mass of money. Fuck, she wouldn't be surprised if they offered him a teaching job.

Emma was having trouble keeping still as she waited for Killian to open the door. Bouncing up and down on her toes, still elated from her letter, she was suddenly startled when a girl answered the door that she had only seen once or twice, but she assumed that she was his cousin.

"Oh! Hey, is Killian in?" she asked, poking her head in slightly.

"He's tied up," she responded, giving no extra details to where he was what he may have been doing.

"I can come back later."

"Don't bother. He'll be down in about…three minutes? Cup of tea?" she offered.

Slightly baffled by her precise answer, Emma hesitantly came into the house and accepted her proposal for tea.

The house was quiet except for the ticking of a clock hanging on the wall. Most of the walls were white, and Emma figured this was because his uncle was too lazy to ever paint them. The furniture was all simple and unadorned and there were papers lying strewn around the table in a jumbled mess. The girl attempted to gather the papers and tidy up as best she could, but Emma supposed she decided it pointless and continued into the kitchen to fix the tea he had promised.

Alone on the couch, Emma could feel her heart beating fast again as she thought about how she was going to be attending her dream college with her best friend. She truly could not have asked for anything more, though after a moment, she discerned that her heartbeat wasn't the only thing she was hearing in the silence of the small town house, but there were floorboards creaking above her head…

The girl came back into the room with their tea and set it down on top of the papers on the table, proceeding to sit on the sofa and whip out a laptop, opening it and then typing vigorously.

Emma tapped her toe on the floor impatiently.

The creaking ceiling got stronger and stronger, when suddenly, a new sound interrupted.

" _Yeah, baby, show me, come on, baby!"_

"Oh, my God, is…is that –"

"Ruby," said the girl, reading her mind.

"So, when you said he was…tied up…you actually meant…"

"Tied up," she finished.

Emma, dumbstruck and completely mortified, snatched her bag and letter from the arm of the chair next to her and promptly vomited into it. She wasn't sure if it was from hearing her best friend having hard sex with his girlfriend or if it was just another bout of the sickness that didn't seem to want to leave her body, but she knew that she felt like shit, no matter the cause.

The girl didn't look up from his computer; she seemed quite enthralled with whatever work she was completing. Without thinking about it for another second, Emma leapt from the sofa. She was already entirely mortified as it was, just sitting there idly, and she didn't think that the situation would improve if she were still sitting on the living room sofa when the happy couple finally descended downstairs.

"I'm going to go!" she said swiftly before opening the door and slipping out, though not before hearing Ruby's loud moan from upstairs indicating her climax.

* * *

The walk home was crisp and bleak and the wind was biting at Emma's skin. The only thing she could think about was that this year was going much differently than she had originally surmised it would be. She knew she only had control of what happened in her life and that Killian was free to engage in whatever acts he wanted with whoever he wanted to. I mean, why should she care?

But in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but feel disappointed. Since they had began their last year of school, she had it mapped out in her brain: celebrate her eighteenth birthday, finish school together, get into the colleges of their dreams, and then move to America. Ruby was never part of the plan.

What if he ditched the plan completely and decided to move somewhere with Ruby?

What if Emma found herself traveling to Boston on her own?

What if she lost him?

Emma knew that she should have faith in him. He would never abandon something they had been planning for their whole lives together just because he met some girl…would he?

It was in that moment when Emma opted to take a slight detour on her way home to the local chemist to try and attain some medicine for her ailment. It was better than trying to convince herself that Killian would be back to his normal self once the novelty of his newfound sex life wore off.

It was a rather shabby place and the lights were all flickering as she walked in. The music was blaring loud, though it sounded like it was coming from somewhere at the back of the store. There were bottles full of different remedies stacked on the shelves behind the counter and she couldn't help but wonder if some of it was for recreational use rather than medicinal.

"Hello?" she called once inside.

"Fuck. I'm coming!" came a voice from a room in the back of the store, followed by the sound of glass shattering on a wood floor.

A young looking blonde woman came out with her hair in a high bun on her head and a cigarette in her hand, taking occasional drags from it.

"Are you supposed to smoke in here?" she asked.

The girl took a long drag before blowing a quick puff of smoke into Emma's face. She seemed to be irritated about something, and Emma was eager to get what she needed and leave.

"My parents own the place," she explained. "They want me to help out? I'll set the terms. Now, what's up?"

"Oh, right. Erm…I've been feeling sick, like, every day. Maybe you could just give me a pill or something…?"

The girl picked up a clipboard, which was hanging on the wall beside her, and stuck the cigarette into her mouth, letting it dangle as she spoke.

"Any diarrhea?"

"No."

"Fever?"

"No."

"Stomach cramps?"

"No."

She threw the clipboard down onto the counter and took the cigarette from her mouth.

"Well, have you missed a period?"

All Emma could do in that moment was stare at her, and suddenly it was all adding up: the sickness, the sudden irritability about Killian and his new girlfriend, and of course, she had been late for her cycle.

Emma looked up timidly at the girl. "Yes," she answered weakly.

The girl turned to the wall next to her and pulled out a small pink box, slamming it down on the counter in front of her. A pregnancy test.

"No," was Emma's immediate response. She shook her head and made no move to pick up the box.

"Virgin?"

"No, but I took the morning after pill!"

"Ninety percent safe. Ten percent's the catch."

Emma's eyes were filling with tears and if she had ever felt a moment of weakness before, this trumped every single one of them.

Turning her head slowly, she looked at the pregnancy test and took a deep breath. From the corner of her eye, she thought she could see an ounce of sympathy in the girl behind the counter's face.

"There's a loo here if you want to use it."

It was the longest three minutes of her entire life. She watched intently, praying for just one line to surface, which would indicate she wasn't pregnant, which would mean she could go on with her life just like any other girl about to go to college.

What would happen if she really were pregnant? Should she get an abortion? There was no way she could keep it and still go through with the plan, although if Killian decided to abandon their future it wouldn't even matter.

Emma's heart was pounding and she could hear the girl, who introduced herself as Tink, pacing outside and taking drag after drag of her cigarette. If she really were pregnant, she would have to leave this store as soon as possible. She shouldn't be inhaling the smoke if it was bad for the baby.

Wait, why would that matter if she were just going to kill it?

Her every thought was consuming her and when the timer went off, she picked up the stick and looked down, shaking, and she saw two pink lines.

She was pregnant. That definitely was not part of her plan.

"Fuck, fuck, FUCK!"

Her mind was racing and she opened the door, holding the positive pregnancy test in her hand.

"Bollocks," said Tink, throwing her cigarette onto the ground and stomping it out. Emma could feel Tink's eyes looking concernedly at her, but Emma was still looking intently at the pregnancy stick, squinting her eyes to see if she had misread it by mistake.

What would she tell Killian? And what would he say?

It didn't matter if he would be mad or not; Emma's future was as good as over, and she knew it.

* * *

 _ **Ah so here is where the story really picks up for me. I love writing every second of it! I hope that all of you who follow this story love it as much as I do! I would love to get your feedback! Thanks for reading. The next chapter may be slower to come due to my being very busy this January, but I am going to give it a shot! Happy New Year everyone!**_


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